Every year before the November hunting season my NEF and H&R 30-30's get sighted in with Barnes bullet handloads for the hunt.

Being that I use Barnes bullets 130XBT's in the H&R and 140 XBT's in the NEF I mainly shoot Hornady 130 SSSP's all year for plinking/practise.

The Barnes are used sparingly but enough to get comfortable with the bench POI and some free hand shooting as well. This year both of these rifles the H&R and the NEF shot under an inch. The H&R has a VariXII in 1.5-5x20mm and the NEF has a 1-3x20mm Weaver. I converted the stock on the H&R to the NEF synthetic and the topper forend, so now it is all black and weighs just 5 1/3 lbs. without the scope. This rifle at 38" is super to use from an elevated stand and is sighted in to 225 yards. Velocity is 2555fps.

The NEF is also synthetic but is a 7 pound rifle because of the thicker profile barrel. Velocity with the 140 XBT's is 2600 FPS

These rifles are a joy to hunt with and with these handloads No whitetail that was hit ever got away.

Started out using these for the wife and kids, and now with the kids grown and doing their own thing I've been using one of these two for 10 years.

Just thought someone might use this info for the wife and kids.

Sounds like you have a couple of good setups there. I use the 130 and 140 30cal Barnes' in several of my TC Encore setups. I get about the same velocity out of a 15" .308 barrel and they sure do a # on the white-tails. Cant wait to try them this year out of my 300WSM.
Dave

Love my little H&R! Light enough to pack all day and a tack driver to boot after I got the appalling 7.5 lb creepy-assed lawyer proof trigger sweetened up to a smooth 46 ounces. Had some truoble with stuck cases using Win.748 at max but switched to IMR4350 and have had no troubles since!

PR

[ 11-28-2002, 03:56: Message edited by: PrarieRat ]

Prairie Rat, What caliber do you have? I had a 30-06 and a .308 and had ejection problems with both. Improper head spacing or a rough chamber could have been the problem, but I decided not to keep them. The two 30-30's have a different "half-moon" type extractor, and after over 3000+ rounds thru both rifles, I have never experienced a problem.---------Chainsaw

Chainsaw; I had same problems with my NEF 06. Found that I could not use a lee loader and that clean dry cases and chamber were a must, not a problem since then. Have just sent my stock back for the trigger job(free) and a 24" .223 bull barrel. Hope it shoots as good as others I see at the range....Then again, if it shoots as good as my swedish mauser in 6.5x55 I will be VERY HAPPY....

Whisler, I wish you the best with the .223. I kinda stumbled onto the 30-30 as a low cost "shoot" often round for the kids. With cheap jacketed bullets, free brass, and milsurp powder, it was a good way for the youngins to be able to shoot often. Once I started experimenting with the X bullets, I was surprised at the accuracy and the velocity I could attain with the single shot in a 30-30.

As for the stuck case problem, I probably would not trust it again, as a follow up shot on a game animal could mean the difference of a wounded deer getting away and one on the meatpole or worse yet on the "wall". Glad to hear you fixed your problem with stuck cases.

I just got my Ultra back yesterday with a newly fitted .243 heavy barrel. Also, asked them to lighten up the trigger. My guess on the trigger is >3lb. It's great. >$100 total. I have polished the chambers on the two NEF's I own and it has helped the extraction problem significantly. Last time at the range - sixty rounds, all sized with a Lee Loader, no failue to extract. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I dunno how he polishes his chambers, but I drill out the primer pocket of a fired case and solder in a bit of rod. Chuck it in an electric drill and coat the case with 600 grit Clover compound. Run it up in the chamber and polish for less than a minute.

I dunno I would do this on a good rifle, but a good rifle ain't likely to have a rough chamber. It's worked wonders on some milsurp and a couple of aftermarket AR 15 barrels. Did have to repeat the treatment twice to get one of those AR chambers reasonably smooth.

Don't know if its the right way,but what i did was use a wooden dowel and scotch brite pads cut to fit and super glued on the dowel,and then used a lot of elbow grease turning the dowel around and around in the chamber.Both so far work great and the brass flies out